Resurrection
by Orange Bulldog
Summary: Set right after the end of the series. The destruction of Sunnydale had a rather strange side effect. Please read and review!
1. Leaving Sunnydale

Disclaimers:

These are obviously not my characters, I'm just borrowing them from Joss Whedon, and anyone else who owns them. The lyrics to One More Day with You likewise belong to Diamond Rio and clearly not me.

If you have issues with people of the same sex loving each other, or live someplace where that's illegal (in which case, consider moving) please move on.

Pairings: canon but focused on Willow/Tara

Rating: PG-13

"Yeah Buffy, what are we gonna do now?" Dawn asked, staring at the hole that once was Sunnydale.

Buffy smiled as she heard her friends chatting behind her, but her smile was lost when she saw motion in the middle of the huge crater.

"Guys, you see that?"

"What?" Willow asked, turning to look. "Whoa, are those…people? How'd they survive that? Wait, who could it be, everyone but us was long gone."

"I don't know but it can't be good. Get everyone back on the bus."

Willow and Xander herded the remaining potentials – slayers, she reminded herself – back onto the bus while Buffy watched the group of forms move around seemingly aimlessly and then start towards the direction of the bus.

"Buffy, you can watch from the bus like the rest of us." Dawn pointed out, hanging her head out of a window.

Buffy turned around to protest, but Willow had also stuck her head out. She was giving her the famous 'resolve face.' "If they're dangerous we might have to leave quickly."

Buffy sighed and walked over to the bus, climbing the steps and moving to the back with her closest friends to watch the apparent survivors move closer.

"You think they saw us?" Xander asked.

"I don't know, but they're moving this way like they did." Willow pointed out.

"Oh god, are we gonna have to fight again? But everyone's hurt!" Dawn whined.

"I don't know Dawn. They can't be vamps, the sun's out." Buffy said nervously.

"Thank god for small favors." Xander quipped.

The gang watched until the group disappeared from view over the edge.

"Faith? Get ready to drive just in case." Buffy called out to the front of the bus.

The dark slayer nodded and moved Robin to another seat. She sat down in the driver's seat, turned around to watch the back of the bus.

The first of the forms started climbing over the edge, seeming strained by the effort.

Buffy's eyes widened. "Isn't that…"

"Tracy?" Kennedy supplied. "But I thought she…"

More forms came over, mostly recognizable as SITs that the girls on the bus swore they'd seen killed.

"Is it the First?" Vi asked. "What do we do?"

"Willow, have we ever known the First to be more than one person at a time?" Buffy turned to her friend, who shook her head very slowly, her eyes riveted to the cliff, where the girls were helping others over the wall. They didn't appear ready to attack.

"What are we doing B?" Faith called out, annoyed at not being able to see what the rest of the group was crowding back to see.

But Buffy didn't answer, because she had just seen what Willow was staring at. Amongst the vaguely familiar SITs was a face she thought she'd never see again. Amanda had just helped her to her feet. Buffy looked over at her best friend. Tears were streaming down her face. She jumped up suddenly and started pushing through the crowd of slayers trying to see.

"Will…" Xander started.

The witch spun around and glared at him. "If you're going to tell me to wait, not to go out there, you can save your breath." She snapped.

The slayers were starting to move out of her way, not wanting to anger the witch, whose power they had felt just today.

"We don't know…." Buffy started.

"That's just it, we don't know anything. And we aren't going to know anything unless someone goes out there. If it's the first, he can't touch me. And if it's not…" she turned and rushed down the aisle and out of the bus before Buffy could stop her. Their attention was grabbed in any case by a voice coming from the previously silent crowd of people coming over the hill.

"Why's everyone just standing around? Come on people, get on the bus!"

Xander turned in shock to see another familiar face. Anya was brushing herself off and walking determinedly toward the bus. "I can't believe you left me! I could have been killed in that crazy explosion and you just LEFT me!" She yelled at Willow, who was walking towards her.

Willow did a double take at Anya but kept walking.

She reached her destination a few moments later. She stopped just shy of touching her, afraid that she'd have no form.

"Tara."


	2. Revelations

"Tara." Willow breathed.

"Willow." The vision spoke, and Willow thought her heart would break in two, hearing her name spoken by her love once again. But she kept talking.

"What happened? I woke up and all these girls were talking about a battle, and Buffy, and it looks like a nuclear bomb in there…and I had the strangest dream…and what's wrong sweetie?" she stepped forward and brushed tears gently off of Willow's face. To her surprise, this caused Willow to collapse into her arms and cry even harder.

Buffy and Xander watched in shock as Willow hugged the apparently solid form of their friend who had died a year before.

Meanwhile, Anya was banging on the door of the bus, which Faith had pulled shut after Willow ran out.

"Let me in, you crazy girl! What's wrong with you?" she screamed at the worried slayer.

"B, what the hell is going on?"

"Giles they're not the First." Buffy turned to her Watcher.

"It appears not." He agreed.

"Well what are they? Giles we saw them die! Today, and, and TARA!" she gestured wildly at the blond witch, who was still holding the sobbing Willow in confusion.

"That's Tara?" Kennedy joined in. Giles and Buffy ignored her.

"Is there anything else that can take forms of dead people like that?" Buffy asked.

Giles shook his head. "Not to my knowledge." He pondered the question. "But there are the prophesies…no, it can't be." He mused.

"It can't be what? What prophesies!"

Giles swallowed. "There are many prophesies about the battle of Armageddon, and the fates of those who die fighting for the side of good. But I assumed they were all metaphorical…"

"WHAT PROPHESIES!" Buffy yelled.

"That those killed on the battleground would be resurrected, essentially." He put it for his impatient slayer.

"Are you telling me that all those girls who died today, have been resurrected because we won?" Buffy asked in amazement.

"Damn, how do we make this happen every time?" Xander quipped.

"But it's not just today." Dawn pointed out. "Tara. And isn't that Annabeth? She died a long time ago."

"I admit, it seems a little farfetched. Especially Tara's presence. And since the world didn't actually end, it doesn't really apply." Giles admitted. "But they don't appear to be evil, and we know they are not the First. Besides, the First's power here should have been eradicated with the closing of the Hellmouth and the destruction of his army."

That was enough for Xander, who followed Willow's lead and went to the front of the bus to see Anya.

Faith wasn't sure what to do, but she took one look at Xander's face and opened the door for him.

Xander flung himself into Anya's arms, muttering almost incoherent "I love you"s and "I'm sorry"s.

Buffy rubbed her eyes. "I so do not need to deal with walking dead people today."

"Are…are they dead though? They look pretty alive to me." Dawn pointed out.

"Only one way to find out I guess." Buffy hauled herself out of the uncomfortable bus seat and went outside to check out the 'walking dead people' herself. First stop, Willow and…Tara.

"Will?" she asked softly. Her friend had mostly stopped crying, but was holding onto Tara for dear life.

"She…Buffy she's real. Tell me she's real. Tell me." Willow whimpered.

Tara looked up at Buffy with wide blue eyes.

Buffy put her hand shakily on her old friend's shoulder, feeling warmth and sensing nothing evil about her.

"I don't understand it Willow…Giles said something about prophesies and resurrections…but she seems real."

"Of course I'm real, wh-why do you keep asking that?" Tara said in confusion. "Honey I'm right here, I'm real. It's you that looks weird, how did your hair grow so fast?" she looked at Buffy. "Y-yours too. What's going on?" she got suddenly nervous.

Buffy looked around at the crowd of slayers all staring at them.

"What happened Buffy? I thought I…well one minute I was fighting and the next minute I was waking up in rubble back there." Amanda gestured behind us.

A few other girls around her, who Buffy remembered being in the final battle as well, nodded.

"You know what, I'm too tired right now to deal with this. Giles, they seem real. Should we just load up and find somewhere to go?" She called back at the bus.

She saw Giles nod at her. "I need to do research on this occurrence. We'll just keep an eye on them. Besides, I think we all need some medical attention." He agreed, calling out the window.

Most of the slayers started boarding the bus. The slayers already on the bus gave them plenty of room. They were more suspicious of resurrection than the Scoobies with their long knowledge of weird things happening on the Hellmouth.

"Will? Come on, let's get on the bus, okay? Tara's coming with." She said, helping the redhead to her feet, but allowing her to keep her hold on Tara.

Tara still looked freaked out.

"I promise, we'll explain everything to you soon, okay? Just…let's get to a hospital and get some rest first." Buffy said to her.

Tara nodded. There were definitely some things that needed explaining. But she could tell there had been one crazy battle and getting to a hospital seemed like a good idea. She wondered if maybe she'd somehow gone to a strange alternate dimension. But wherever she was, she was with Willow, and her girlfriend clearly needed her.

-

The bus ride to the nearest town was mostly silent. The girls at the front of the bus were still confused about what had happened, and those in the back were worried their friends were about to kill them. Willow and Tara sat on a seat near the front, right in front of Anya and Xander. Kennedy was the only slayer not silent. She was fuming.

"I cannot believe she's up there with that….thing."

Buffy finally had enough. "You know what Kennedy? I'm pretty sure that's Tara, and if it is, let me be the first to tell you that you are single again."

Kennedy glared at the oldest slayer but kept her mouth shut.

"Oh and one more thing. Tara doesn't know anything yet. If I were you I'd stay away from them. I don't want her first knowledge of being dead to come from her girlfriend's new girlfriend, got it?"

Dawn was staring at Tara.

"Buffy, look what she's wearing." She said quietly.

"Who?"

"Tara."

Buffy looked, but couldn't figure out why Dawn cared. "What about it?"

"It's what she was wearing..that day."

Buffy's eyes widened. "The day she died? You remember what she was wearing?"

"I sat there for hours, just staring at her. I'll never forget anything about that room."

They arrived at a small hospital a few minutes later. The clerk was shocked to see nearly fifty people, mostly teenage girls, walk in bloody and bruised. A few were being held up by their companions.

Giles was in charge. "Earthquake, we think. In Sunnydale. We barely escaped."

The clerk's eyes widened.

-

It took six hours, but most of the combatants were released. Only four, including Robin, were checked into the hospital. In the interim, Giles and Tara, after being cleared by the medical staff with only minor cuts and bruises, had gone to a nearby thrift store the clerk had directed them to and bought all of the comfortable looking, clean clothing they could find, which they hoped would fit everyone until they had a chance to go shopping. Giles was trying to keep Tara away from the others until Willow had a chance to explain things to her. Dawn was just about as happy as Willow that she was alive, and she had a hard time not breaking down whenever she was around the blond witch. And Anya was never safe with a secret. They'd also made sure that everyone got some food. The hospital insisted that everyone be checked out, even if they didn't appear seriously injured, which had the added benefit of checking out all of the resurrected girls. Nothing out of the ordinary came back – they all seemed to be normal, fairly healthy humans. The strange part was that most of them had injuries, just not mortal ones. Most of the girls had bruises and cuts and a few new broken bones clearly from the last fight. As far as Giles could tell, they were as they'd been just before they had died.

The group, now forty-one strong, piled back on the bus to head to a motel.

"What the…"

"It's a long story. How many rooms do you have?" Giles cut off the questioning.

"Uh…let me check…" the clerk said, trying his best to look at his computer and the crowd in front of him.

"Thirteen." He pronounced a few moments later.

"We'll take them all." Giles said, slapping a credit card down on the counter.

"You brought your wallet with you?" Buffy asked him in amazement.

"Quite on accident, I assure you. But bloody good luck." He responded as the clerk ran his card and gave him a load of keys.

Buffy looked around at the group. "Okay…let's see. Giles, Andrew…" she looked at Xander, thinking about putting him with the guys but decided he should stay with Anya. She handed Robin the first key. "Xander, Anya, Willow, Tara." She handed Xander the next. "Um…me, Dawn, Faith…and here, you can figure it out from there. Ten rooms, get into groups of three or four and come grab a key. Get clean, get some rest. We'll talk in the morning. Giles, you have a list of the rooms we've got?"

The watcher nodded.

"Okay, go for it."

In less than ten minutes the new slayers had all disappeared off to their rooms, with only minor hassles over who went where.

-

The next morning, Buffy awoke and looked at the clock. She felt like she could sleep forever…but her stomach was less happy about that thought. It was almost 10 am, so she turned over to wake Dawn up, but she was already awake, staring at the ceiling.

"Hey." She grinned at her big sister.

Buffy smiled back. "Hey. Hungry?"

"God, I'm starved, but I didn't want to wake you guys." She said, sitting up. Buffy looked over at Faith and started laughing. The other slayer was sprawled across the bed with the sheets tangled up around her in an almost impossible knot, and she was snoring loudly. The laughing woke her up though.

"B, come on, we gotta get up already?" she moaned and put her arm over her eyes.

"Well it is almost 10, and I'm starving." Buffy pointed out. "Plus, I hate to think what those girls might be up to."

Faith considered going back to sleep but had to admit food sounded good.

-

Meanwhile, next door, Xander was lying awake too. Anya was pillowed on his shoulder. She didn't remember dying and he hadn't told her yet. But she had been getting closer to forgiving him before the big battle. He didn't kid himself that their sexual exploits had been much more than a common fear of death. But he did know that when he'd thought she was dead, he knew for certain that he had made a big mistake that rainy day last year. He hoped it wasn't too late to make that right.

Xander looked over at the other bed, where Willow and Tara were curled up so closely that he could barely tell where one ended and the other began. They looked so happy. But he knew that their road was tougher even than his and Anya's. Tara had been dead for more than a year, and she didn't even know it yet. And there was Kennedy…not to mention Willow's little scheme to destroy the world. Somehow he didn't think Tara was going to take too kindly to that.

The women were suddenly jolted awake at the loud knocking on the door.

"Are you guys awake in there?" the younger Summers' voice came through.

Anya groaned. "We are now."

"Well, it is almost ten o'clock." Dawn pointed out. "And we're hungry. And Giles says it's time to talk."

-

There was a Denny's in the motel, so after gathering up the young slayers, all of whom were already up and talking amongst themselves, they headed over. The newly resurrected girls had figured out what had happened, and were understandably freaked out.

Giles held up his hand and attempted to quiet down the crowd.

"Girls. GIRLS!" they turned to look. "I realize you are quite upset. But I don't think this is a safe place to talk. Let's get some food, and then we can go back to a room and talk."

Having slayer metabolisms, they were also quite hungry, so they grudgingly agreed. He put Andrew, Dawn, and Faith in charge of keeping the girls in order before sitting down in a large booth with Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Tara.

"Okay, so when is someone going to tell me what's going on? Why did you leave me and all those crazy slayer girls behind? And what is she doing here?" Anya pointed at Tara.

"Why does everyone seem so upset that I'm here?" Tara asked, looking down.

Giles looked at Willow and Xander, unsure if they'd want to do the talking. Xander sighed and started. He took Anya's hand in his.

"An, honey, we didn't leave you behind. You…and most of the other girls…you died in the fight."

To his amazement, Anya started laughing. "What are you talking about? I didn't die, look, I'm right here."

Xander's eye misted up. "I know you are. That's why it's so weird. Because we know you were dead, but you aren't anymore."

Tara turned to Willow. "Did..did I die in the fight too? But I don't remember a fight."

Willow shook her head, tears in her eyes too. "No…you, you died over a year ago. That's why…our hair is different, and Giles is here, and Dawn is taller, and Anya is back." All questions Tara had asked recently.

Tara stared at her girlfriend. "I…a year? I died? A year ago?" Willow nodded. "But..I don't remember. Buffy remembered, why don't I remember?" she asked, withdrawing her hand from Willow's and crossing her arms across her chest.

Giles spoke up. "We're still not sure about that. We've been fighting an entity known as the First, and there was a huge battle yesterday."

"Where Anya, and some of those girls, died." Tara filled in shakily.

"Correct. Those girls are potential slayers."

"Slayers now." Willow put in.

Giles shook himself. "I apologize, I'm still not used to it. They are slayers now. They were potential slayers until yesterday, and the First was attacking them to kill the slayer line. We were protecting and training them. Some of them died before the final battle. Those appear to be alive again too."

"But…what does that have to do with me?" Tara asked.

"We don't know yet." Buffy answered. "See, all of Giles' books were blown up so he doesn't have anything to research with."

"He's completely lost." Xander agreed.

Tara smiled despite herself at the thought of Giles without his books. Her smile faded when she saw a pretty, dark-haired woman approaching.

"Kennedy, I warned you." Buffy said.

Willow's eyes widened and Tara felt her stiffen beside her.

"You told me to stay away until she knew. Well it looks like she knows now."

"We just told her. Kenn, please, go back to your table, I can't deal with this right now okay?" Willow pleaded.

"Who are you?" Tara asked in confusion.

Kennedy put her hands on her hips. "Name's Kennedy. I'm Willow's girlfriend."


	3. Dealing

Tara went white with shock. She stared at the young slayer for a minute, before pushing her way out of the booth and rushing away.

"Tara! Tara wait!" Willow called after her in desparation.

Tara turned around briefly, tears in her eyes. "I'll be in the room. I need some time." Then she ran away.

Willow turned to Kennedy, eyes blazing with anger. "I cannot believe you."

"What? It's true." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Not anymore it isn't!"

"Oh fine, so what your old girlfriend comes back and you ditch me?"

"She didn't just 'come back,' she came back from the DEAD!" Willow hissed. "It's not like we broke up or something. Besides, that's not the only reason I'm dumping you. It's also because you are a selfish, inconsiderate brat."

Just then the waitress appeared with their food. Kennedy and Willow waited, seething, until she put it all down and left.

"What are you talking about?" Kennedy asked finally.

"You just told someone who'd just been shocked with the knowledge that she has been dead for a year and just been resurrected that the woman she thinks is her girlfriend actually has another one! She'd had enough of a shock already, don't you think that was mean?"

Kennedy had no answer to that.

"Yeah, I thought so. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go bring my girlfriend her food, since someone made her run away before she got to eat it."

Buffy put her hand on Willow's as she started to pick up Tara's plate of pancakes.

"Let me, Will."

"But Buffy…"

"She's mad, and confused, and hurt right now. I don't think she's ready to see you just yet. I'll go talk to her okay?"

Willow nodded in defeat.

-

Buffy turned the corner and saw Tara slumped on the floor next to her door, crying.

"Tara?"

She looked up. "I…I didn't have the key." She admitted.

Buffy smiled slightly. "I brought your breakfast. And I have the key to my room." She handed Tara their food and opened her door.

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Is she…I mean she and Willow…"

"They were together, yeah. But Will just broke up with her."

"B-because of me?"

"Well, she said it was also because she was a brat, which she is, but yeah, because of you."

Tara started crying again.

"Look, I know it probably doesn't help, but we are all really glad to have you back, even if we don't know why yet."

"But Willow, she had a, a life, she, I don't want to come back and mess up everyone's life."

"Oh god, Tara. Not really, she didn't. She was trying her best to have a life. But in some ways I always thought her life ended the same day yours did." She said quietly. Tara kept crying. "I meant that in a good way!" Buffy said frantically. "I mean, that she never stopped loving you, and maybe now that you are back…her life can start again, you know?" she paused. "You still love her, right?" she asked cautiously.

Tara looked at her, shocked. "Always."

Buffy smiled then. "Okay then." She suddenly was flooded with images of Willow with black hair, trying to kill her in the Magic Box.

"Um, Tara? There are things…things that are going to be hard to hear. About the last year. About Willow. You're going to have to hear them. From her. But just keep in mind that no matter what, she loves you, and she's still Willow. She's the same girl that we know and love."

"What, what kind of things?" Tara asked warily.

Buffy shook her head. "I can't tell you." She looked at their empty plates. "I should probably take these back to the restaurant. You want me to send Willow?"

Tara paused. She wiped her eyes. "I guess so. I should get everything out in the open."

-

Buffy arrived back at the restaurant as the rest of the group was getting ready to leave.

Willow rushed up to her. "Is she okay?"

The slayer nodded. "She wants to talk to you. I told her…that there are some things you need to talk about." Willow's eyes went wide. "I didn't tell her what, okay? But she needs to know. Better that she hears from you than from Anya."

Willow looked down at her shoes. "What if she can't stand me? I mean, she didn't even want to be with me when I was doing little bitty black magic."

"She left because you did magic on her, Willow. You stole her memories. In a way I think that was worse than anything you did…after. But yeah, she's gonna be upset. You have to show her that you've changed."

Willow nodded. "Giles is gonna take the girls back to his room and tell them everything he knows. Maybe you should go with him? I think the rest of the gang are going to go to the hospital."

Buffy nodded. "I'll be with Giles if you need me."

-

"Giles, it's been almost two hours."

"They have a lot to talk about." He reminded her.

"I wonder how it's going at the hospital."

"I'm sure they would have phoned if there was a problem." He assured her.

"I hope some of the slayers have reached their folks."

Giles groaned. "As do I. Thirty-two teenage girls in one hotel room was an experience I really do not need to repeat."

After explaining as best he could why the girls were alive again, they'd decided that all the girls with families should return home. There weren't many watchers left, so that would have to be dealt with, but in the meantime Giles was not about to continue looking after all of them. The danger was past, and it was safe for them to return. Once all those with somewhere to go had left he could deal with the rest. Some girls' families had been killed by the Bringers, and Amanda didn't know where hers had gone when they left Sunnydale.

There was a knock at the door. Buffy leapt up to answer it. She found a tear-streaked Willow.

"I told her everything." She sobbed. "Everything. I'm sure she hates me now. She's never going to want to be with a killer."

Buffy wrapped her arms around her friend. "She'll deal. We'll help her, okay? Did she say anything?"

Willow shook her head. "Not much. I told her the easy stuff first, you know, what we've been up to. I told her about…Warren. And about Kennedy. And then…I told her what I did." She started crying again. "She didn't say anything the whole time I was talking about the magic. I told her about England, and how I've been doing better, and about the slayer spell, but she still didn't say anything. And when I'd said everything I could think of, she asked me to leave. She said she had to be alone." She sobbed.

Buffy just held her. She didn't know what else she could do.

-

That night, Tara still hadn't come out of her room. Buffy brought her food, but she refused to see Willow. The slayers were making plans to leave.

Faith came back from the last hospital trip of the night and came straight to Buffy and Giles.

"We need to go patrolling."

"What!" Buffy exploded.

"There are vamps here. They must have come here when they left Sunnydale. While I was at the hospital I heard these docs talking about how they've had a lot of weird blood-drained victims lately, with neck wounds. We need to go patrolling." Faith repeated.

Buffy flopped onto the bed. "I don't believe this. I do NOT believe this. Fine, see if any of the girls want to go. Volunteers only, got it? They just survived a huge battle, if they don't want to fight right away I say okay."

Faith nodded.

"Can I go?" Dawn asked eagerly.

Buffy groaned. "I don't care."

"Yes! I feel like I need to go run around." She grinned, and went off to recruit others.

-

As it turned out, not many of the girls were as eager to go patrolling as Dawn. So Faith set out with Dawn and three other girls. It was a fairly routine patrol. They dusted a bunch of vamps, but didn't see any demons. The unusual part came in a cemetery right before they were ready to head home. They were fighting a group of three vamps. Faith had just dusted the one she was fighting with, and she turned around to see how the others were faring, when she saw Dawn leap effortlessly onto a five-foot wall and then down again to follow one that was escaping. She followed and watched the girl. The vamp attacked with a lunging punch, but Dawn side-stepped it and countered with a nice roundhouse to his gut. He doubled over, and she kicked his head up with a savage front kick, opening his torso up and giving her room to reach in and plunge a stake into his chest.

She turned around and saw Faith watching her with her mouth open.

"What?"


	4. Another Slayer?

"How long have you been able to do that?" Faith asked in amazement.

"What, fight? Buffy started teaching me last year." She shrugged. "You knew I could fight. You have to be able to if you want to survive around us."

Faith shook her head. "I've seen you fight like a normal person. Just then…you fought like a slayer."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I could see it, you didn't have to think about what to do, you just knew, didn't you."

Dawn nodded slowly.

"And you jumped over that wall like it was a foot off the ground."

Dawn looked at the wall. "Well, it isn't…"

"It's almost as tall as you are." Faith cut her off.

"Faith, I'm not a slayer." She insisted.

"I think you are. I think you could take any of those girls back there on." Faith disagreed. "And win."

"Willow did a spell once cuz we heard there was a potential in Sunnydale. We thought for a while it was me, but it was Amanda. And then we were fighting the Bringers, and they went straight for her, not for me. I wasn't a potential, I can't be a slayer." She argued.

Faith shrugged. "I dunno. I just know what I saw, and you are a slayer."

-

They were still fighting about it when they returned to the motel.

"Buffy, tell her I'm not a slayer." Dawn said, exasperated, as she entered their room. Buffy and Giles were looking over Willow's shoulder at the laptop Giles had bought. They looked back in confusion.

"She's not a slayer." Buffy said dutifully.

"B you didn't see her fight tonight. And she jumped over a 5 foot wall."

"I told her, Willow did that spell earlier and I wasn't a potential."

"Come on, I'll arm-wrestle you." Faith prodded.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Faith, this is ridiculous." But she walked over to the table and put her elbow down. "When you break my arm in like a second, I told you so."

Faith raised her eyebrows and joined Dawn at the table. She did indeed win, but only after almost a minute of Dawn holding her off. The teen kept protesting that Faith wasn't giving it her all, but Buffy saw Faith's look of concentration and strain.

"Dawn, did you get hurt in the fight?" she asked.

"Not really, just a few bruises and a cut on my arm…" she rolled up her sleeve, but the cut was almost healed. "See, no big, almost healed."

"Huh, and all your bruises are gone aren't they." Faith asked.

"Um, I guess they weren't that bad."

"Or, you have slayer healing so they healed fast."

"Okay, stop it, both of you." Buffy stopped them. "Will, isn't there some sort of spell we can do to see if she is?"

"Um, maybe we could alter that one we used to find the potential. But wouldn't it have found her before?"

"Not if she was far enough down the line." Giles said thoughtfully. "After all, didn't you say you felt thousands of girls awakening after the spell? Those were all girls that neither we nor the Bringers identified as potentials. Dawn could have been like those girls."

Everyone in the room turned to stare at Dawn.

"Oh my god I'm a slayer."

"Looks like it. Welcome to the club kiddo." Faith slapped her on the back.

"So…all those times when you made me go to school when you were training the potentials, or when you took them camping and not me, you were wrong." She stated.

"Dawn.."

"NO! You ignored me, cuz you didn't think I was special like them. Well guess what, I am special. I'm gonna go hang out with the other slayers." She stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Buffy winced.

-

The next few days were busy for the gang. Slayers started leaving, going off to their families around the globe. A few of the orphaned girls left with one of their new friends, and the rest went to live with relatives. Before they knew it, it was just the old gang left at the motel. Willow was still sleeping in Buffy and Dawn's room, which Faith had vacated when Robin got out of the hospital. Even Andrew had gone, promising to stay good, stay in touch, and help out if he could.

Anya and Xander had worked things out and were now in their own room too, having lots of orgasms according to the ex-demon. Only Tara remained distant, wandering the city by day and staying in her room alone by night. She barely looked at Willow.

Giles decided it was time to move on. With Willow at the computer, they all now had new identification and monetary access. Actually, most of it had been completely legal, since it was no secret that their town had been blown up. Tara's life of course had been much more difficult and involved more illegal activity. But Willow was still a whiz, and it had been mostly put back together by the hacker, though every detail she saw to made her a little sadder as the woman still wouldn't talk to her.

-

"So, what's the what G-man? We outta here yet?" Faith plopped herself down on a bed.

"If you'll just have some patience, Faith, I intend to tell you all once everyone is here."

Most of the gang was already in the room. The door opened again and Buffy walked in, followed by Tara. Willow's eyes lit up when she saw her, but they drooped again when Tara sat down on the floor as far from her as possible. Tara hadn't even wanted to be here, but Buffy had talked her into it. She'd also suggested that she talk to Willow.

"All right then. Faith is indeed correct. I believe it is time to move on."

"Where?" Buffy asked.

"Well, that is up for discussion. We have multiple options. There are three other known hellmouths which we might consider moving to. One is in Cleveland, another in the Congo, and the last is on a virtually deserted island in the South Pacific."

Buffy made a face. "Another Hellmouth?"

"Um, can we not move to the Congo?" Dawn added. "That place is scary enough without it being a Hellmouth."

"Interestingly, much of the turmoil in….right then, back to the matter at hand." Giles cut off his lesson as he saw the blank stares on the majority of the faces in the room. "I agree, if we choose to do so Cleveland is clearly the preferred choice."

"What are the other options?" Xander asked.

"There is the matter of all the new slayers. They will have to be found, trained, Watchers assigned to them…and the Council must be reformed. There's only a handful of Watchers left."

"Anyone for leaving the Council un-formed?" Faith held up her hand, followed by the rest of the young people in the room.

"Without Watchers, slayers will be completely unprepared for what is out there." Giles protested. "I know you lot had a bad experience with the Council, but it doesn't have to be that way."

"Um, I was talking to some of the other girls the other day, and we had an idea." Dawn piped up. "Since there are so many of us now, we thought maybe we should be our own watchers. I mean, older slayers could like mentor the younger ones. It'd be kinda tough right away, cuz there's only two experienced ones right, but soon that'll change."

Giles looked rather skeptical, but Buffy and Faith looked at each other and grinned. "That's a great idea!" Buffy exclaimed. "Who better to teach you than someone who's really been there?"

"I thought we were talking about what we are going to do now." Anya said bluntly.

"Yes, well actually it is rather pertinent. One of our choices was going to be setting up a school for slayers." Giles explained. "Now that there are so many, it would be more effective than trying to find enough Watchers for each to have one. I've been discussing the possibility with Thomas, an old Watcher friend of mine. You would of course all be welcome to be part of that venture."

"Is that where you want to go?" Buffy asked.

"I believe it's where I can do the most good, yes."

Faith and Robin looked at each other. "Dude you're a principal, makes sense to me. I'd be down with a little teaching."

The group looked at her in surprise.

"What? It was kinda fun okay?"

"You mean I could go to a slayer school instead of a regular one? Learn fighting instead of math and history?" Dawn said excitedly. "Count me in!"

"Er, there would of course still be math and history, and all the other traditional subjects, as well as slayer-specific classes." Giles explained.

"Oh. Well, still, I think it's a good idea."

"You think there'd be a place for me, maybe in the computer department?" Willow asked. Tara's head swiveled around to look at her. She'd been sure the redhead would have asked about magic. Maybe Buffy was right and she really had changed.

Giles was impressed that his group would want to be part of this. "There's a place for any and all of you who wish it."

The entire group just grinned at him.

"All right then. Thomas is already checking out a site in northern Connecticut. An old private school that's been lying empty. It's rather isolated for privacy, but close to a town as well. I'll call him tonight and see what he thought."

"Is that close to New York City?" Buffy asked with a grin.

"I believe it's about an hour away. Why?"

"Come on Giles, it's New York! I've always wanted to go there."

"So…is the meeting over?" Anya asked.

Giles took off his glasses and began cleaning them. "Actually, there is one more thing I wanted to tell you. Thomas was doing some research into the, er, peculiar happenings after the battle." He paused. "He agrees with my original assessment of an apocalypse prophesy. And he has a theory on why.." he trailed off, not, knowing how to put it delicately.

"Why I'm here?" Tara spoke up for the first time.

"Er, yes. The only explanation is that the First was in Sunnydale much earlier than we previously thought."

"Meaning?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"I believe Warren was under his influence." He let that hang in the room for a minute before continuing. "It's even possible that it was not an accident."

"WHAT?" Willow exploded. "What do you mean, not an accident? Who would want to hurt Tara?" her voice rose in volume and got shriller with every word.

Giles winced. "Someone who knew what you would do if she were killed."

-

"Will, you don't know that that's what happened." Buffy tried to console her sobbing friend. The stunned group had disbanded after Giles' stunning announcement, leaving Buffy alone with the distraught witch.

"You, you don't know it's not." Willow hiccupped. "Don't you see? It's my fault! If I hadn't been addicted to magic in the first place, she wouldn't have died! That's practically as good as me pulling the trigger!"

"No, no, it's not. Look at me. You are not responsible for her death, Will." She rubbed Willow's back gently. "Besides, look at the bright side, okay?"

"What bright side?"

"If the First hadn't had anything to do with her death, she wouldn't be here now."

Willow calmed down instantly.

"Besides, just because Warren was under its control doesn't mean Tara was a target. Maybe she really was just an accident, and I was the target like we've thought all along." "We'll probably never know."

"Exactly. So I don't think we should worry about it."

-

Tara lay in her room, which was next to Willow and Buffy's. She clutched a pillow and tried to cry silently. She could hear the voices in the next room, so she was sure Buffy's slayer hearing could pick hers up. She couldn't tell what they were saying, but Willow was clearly very upset. Understandably. It took everything she had not to go take the redhead in her arms and tell her it would all be okay, but she didn't know if that was true. Willow had killed someone. Sure, that someone had just killed her, and could she really say that she might not act the same way? Not with the magic, of course. It was too ingrained in her being not to use black magic. But…she remembered how angry she'd been when her mother died, and that was from a disease. She'd looked for anyone to lash out at. If there had been a person responsible for it, what would she have done?

Everything Willow had told her suggested that she was doing much better. Studying with that coven in England had done wonders for her. Tara just wished she'd done it sooner. But still, she was scared. Scared of what Willow could do, scared of what she would do. Could she really trust her?

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a knock at the door. She hesitantly opened it, rather surprised to see Dawn there, evidence of recent tears on her face.

"Dawn?"

"Can I come in?"

Tara opened the door wider and stepped aside. She had barely talked to Dawn the past week, and she realized that had been a mistake. The teenager had probably missed her too.

Dawn sat down on the bed. "You didn't say much in the meeting."

Tara sat down and didn't disagree with her.

Dawn looked up with fresh tears in her eyes. "Are you sad you came back to us?"

"What?"

"Like Buffy was. Do you wish you'd stayed in heaven?" she wiped the tears away. "Cuz you don't seem too happy to be here with us again."

"Oh, Dawnie…it's not you, really. And no, it's not like it was with Buffy. I…it's more like a strange dream for me. Mostly I just feel like I slept for a year and woke up to find that the world had changed."

"Then…why are you so sad? Because of Willow?"

Tara just nodded.

"But she's so much better! Really! I mean I was so mad at her, and kinda scared, for a long time. But she's not scary, she's just Willow again."

Tara picked at the bedspread. "But she still did those things. And who knows what could happen in the future Dawn. What if Buffy dies again? Or Xander? What would Willow do then?"

"I don't know." Dawn admitted in a small voice.

"Me either. And that scares me."

"But she loves you. Don't you love her?"

"Of course I do."

"Then what else matters?"

Tara didn't have an answer to that.

"You really grew up in the last year, you know?"

Dawn beamed.

"Sometime you have to tell me all about it, okay? I'm sorry I was so weird these past few days. I should have talked to you before."

Dawn nodded and hugged Tara tightly. "I missed you so much." A thought occurred to her. "Are you gonna come to the school too?"

"I guess so. I was thinking about going back and finishing college, but I'm sure I could do that around there. I couldn't leave you guys again, you know that."

Dawn grinned. "So…are you gonna talk to Willow?"

"I guess I have to huh?"

-

Willow had calmed down and was just lying on the bed next to Buffy when a knock came at their door. Buffy got up.

"If that's Dawn she's in trouble, I told her to leave us alone."

But instead of Dawn, she opened the door to a teary Tara.

"Um…I'll just…go."

Willow sat up.

"Can I come in?"

Willow nodded, unsure of her voice.

Tara shut the door and sat down on the other bed. She looked down at her lap.

"I know that you want me to say that everything is okay, that I understand, and that everything can go back to how it was. But everything isn't okay, Willow. Everything isn't how it was. Everything's changed. And I don't know that I understand. And I don't know what to do to make it right. I thought about going away, doing my own thing for awhile. But I don't think that would work. Besides, this is my family, and I belong here. I know that. And…I know that I belong with you. But not right away. It's been a year, Willow, and you've changed a lot. I need to…get to know you again. So, I'm not saying no. I'm just saying let's see what happens, okay?"

By now tears were flooding down both of their faces. Tara finally lifted her face to look at Willow.

"So…you think you could love me again?" Willow asked, sniffing.

Tara moved to sit next to her. "Honey, I still love you. I never stopped. I just…I need some time. But I want to be your friend in that time, if that's okay."

"Are you going to come to Connecticut?"

"I thought maybe we could find a college nearby, finish our degrees? I mean, did you…"

Willow shook her head. "I didn't finish my junior year either, and by the time I got back from England classes had already started."

"So, friends."

Willow nodded through her tears. "Friends."


	5. Connecticut

"Oh my GOD is this really gonna be our school?" Dawn shrieked.

They were driving up the path to the front. The first building was a large stone one with ivy creeping up the walls. It was clear it hadn't been cared for in some time, but it was still a fantastic site for a school. Behind the main building were a large number of structures of various shapes and sizes, all in the same gothic stone.

"It's like a castle!" Dawn was still ogling the architecture.

"Yes, well it needs a good deal of work but we got a fantastic price, and it is a good location."

"Where do we live?" Buffy wondered.

"That group of buildings off to the left are dormitories. Each floor has a small apartment for a faculty advisor as well as ten student rooms. I believe Robert said there are fifteen such apartments, so there will be more than enough space, although I thought the easiest might be to move into one floor for now."

Giles pulled into one of the parking spots, followed by Robin in the other car. There was an elderly man waiting outside.

"Robert! So good to see you." Giles greeted him.

"So, what do you think?"

"Fantastic."

"Glad you think so. Well, I'm sure you folks want to get settled in, I know you've had a long flight. My wife Doris and I have been living in the apartment in the bottom floor of the closest dormitory." He pointed. "Take whatever rooms you want. Just let me know and I'll show you around."

As excited as they were, they had been traveling since 7 am, and it seemed like a good idea to put their meager belongings away and rest for awhile.

Finding the nearest dorm, they trekked upstairs to the second floor. It seemed natural to give the apartment to Giles, so the younger crowd moved on to the student rooms, which were each equipped with two single beds. The two couples, Robin and Faith and Xander and Anya, took the first two rooms, pushing the beds together. The remaining Scoobies stood around awkwardly. The obvious pairings would be Buffy with Dawn and Willow with Tara, but somehow Buffy didn't think that was a good idea. So she spoke up.

"Will, what do you think, bunking together again?"

"Ooh, do I get to room with Tara?" Dawn asked excitedly.

"If she says yes."

"Of course, that sounds fun Dawn." Tara smiled.

-

After a few hours , the group was restless and set out to explore. There were four more dorms like the one they were in, each with three stories. On the other side of the campus there was a cluster of academic buildings, equipped with classrooms of various sizes and types, and a large library that Giles couldn't wait to start filling with books. To the rear was a large, multi-story gymnasium with a basketball court, a swimming pool, two indoor tennis courts, and some smaller, empty rooms. Behind this were multiple fields for various sports.

Finally, they headed back up to the main building. It turned out to hold an auditorium on one end, and a large cafeteria on the other. In the middle were some meeting rooms and an area clearly intended for administrative activities. One of the offices was already set up with a desk, and they found Robert there, working.

"Oh, hello! Did you find everything okay?" he asked cheerfully.

Dawn bobbed her head. "This is gonna be an awesome school!"

He laughed heartily. "You must be Dawn. We never got formally introduced, I'm Robert Campbell. Doris is around here somewhere…"

"You're not British." Faith said bluntly.

"No, I'm not. We're from Kentucky, actually. Not all Watchers are from England, you know."

"How did you pay for this?" Buffy asked.

"Well, the Council has more money than you'd think. Enough to buy this place as well as run it for many years. But we're hoping to get some donations from students. I don't want to charge tuition, or turn any girl away for lack of money, but we're hoping to eventually have it pay for itself."

Buffy nodded. "That's good. I'm glad that money is being put to good use finally."

Giles winced at his slayer's lack of tact, but Robert just laughed. "Very true, very true."

-

The next few weeks found the gang busier than they had ever been without the end of the world approaching. It was already June, and they wanted to have the school open by September. There was currently space for 300 students, and they only had contacts with about 35 slayers. Willow assured them there were many more all over the world, and she and Tara set to work locating them. Tara grudgingly admitted that Willow seemed to have control over her magic, though it still freaked her out somewhat. Buffy and Faith decided it would be best for them to personally explain it, so they started with the large cities. They would find all the slayers in that city, locate them, explain to them their powers and the school, and then move on to the next city. Willow started to compile a database of all of the slayers and their contact information.

Xander was in construction heaven, repairing everything that needed fixing, which was a lot. Robin and Giles worked with Robert to plan curriculums, find suitable teachers, and attend to all of the ordinary business of starting a school.

But it was Dawn who rather accidentally got their big break. She'd set up an internet group and website to keep in contact with the Sunnydale slayers, and girls she didn't know started emailing her to ask questions about special abilities. It was she who realized most of these girls, in her generation, would turn to the internet to look for information on the strange things happening to them. Buffy and Faith were still in their first cities, and it was taking longer than hoped to find the new slayers. So she started a website where they could find information on being a slayer, and information on the new school. In a week she'd found nearly a hundred girls.

"This is amazing, Dawn." Willow praised the teen.

She grinned. "Isn't it? And a bunch of them want to come to school. But um…they want to know what to tell their parents."

"Oh. We haven't really thought about that yet. I'll have to talk to Giles." In fact, it hadn't even occurred to them that this would be an issue, though now she realized it was a huge one. They were expecting to bring high-school age girls to a boarding school, without explaining to their parents what was going on there? It had always been the Council's policy to keep everyone in the dark, but her drastic change to the slayer line might have to bring a drastic change to that too.

-

"How are the interviews going?" Giles said, entering Robin's office.

The black man groaned. "You have no idea how hard it is to find out if someone would be a good teacher at a slayer school without telling them what a slayer is."

"What about those contacts from the covens?"  
"Those are a bit easier." He admitted. "But I only hired four teachers from those, and we needed at least five more. I've still got two to go." He rubbed his temples. "Maybe it was a mistake trying to open so quickly."

"How is enrollment looking?"

"Robert's handling that, but last time I talked to him it was going well. I think we have about 150 committed so far. Looks like we might be close to full after all. You're talking to the parents right?"

Giles nodded. "I know we decided it was for the best to tell them the truth if they asked, but sometimes I wonder. They don't all take it very well."

"So you're not telling them all?"

"No, just the ones who want to know why their daughter was accepted to a boarding school with no apparent tuition. Or the ones whose daughters decide to tell them on their own and we have to explain that they are telling the truth."

"I don't envy you that job my friend. Are any of the girls from Sunnydale coming?"

"Yes, actually I think most of them are. Their parents were easier to convince – they'd already experienced their daughters being whisked away, they knew something was going on."

"Are Buffy and Faith getting back soon?"  
"Yes, tomorrow. Haven't you been in contact with Faith?"

"Not really. Didn't I tell you that we broke up?"

"Oh, no, I'm sorry."

The principal shrugged. "Don't be. It was a mutual agreement, we just weren't right for each other. It was right before she went away though, so I guess it wasn't obvious."

-

"Hi Willow!" Dawn bounded into the witch's bedroom.

"Hey Dawnie, what's up?"

"Buffy's coming home today!"

Willow grinned. "Yep! I feel like she's been gone forever, instead of less than two months."

"Did you hear, we have almost 200 people coming to school!"

"Yeah I know, isn't it great? It'll be nice to see some of the girls from Sunnydale again."

Dawn nodded. "Amanda's gonna be my roommate. Tara said we could live on her floor."

"Oh, that sounds fun. You know I'll just be upstairs and Buffy'll be down on the first floor."

"I know! All in the same house, I'm glad. You know, we should give it a name. Oooh! We should give all of them a name, like at Hogwarts! We could have points and everything!"

Willow looked slightly confused.

"Hogwarts? From Harry Potter?"

"Oh, right, of course. You know, that might be a good idea, build communities and all that…" the redhead mused. She jotted a few things down on a paper next to her computer, then remembered the teenager in the room.

"Hey, sorry Dawn, did you come here for a reason other than that?"

"Oh yeah, Giles wanted to know if you want to come with to get Buffy and Faith."


	6. The End and the Beginning

"Okay, now that I'm home, I expect full spillage." Buffy said as she sprawled on the bed.

Willow groaned. "I didn't tell you anything while you were gone because there's nothing to tell. We're still just 'friends.'" She held her fingers up for quotation marks. "She's like hot and cold, Buffy. One day she's laying on my bed, or asking me out to ice cream, even holding my hand when we are walking around. But if I make the teeniest little move on my own, she freaks out and tells me she's not ready. I almost kissed her the other day." She admitted.

"And?"

"And nothing! We were working in the computer lab, setting up all the new computers, and she leaned over my shoulder to see what I was doing. I turned my head and she was like, right there. She looked at me too, she knew what was about to happen. Then at the last second she pulled away and went back in her shell."

Buffy sighed.

"I just don't know how much more of this I can take! It's been almost two months."

"Will, she's got a lot to deal with."

"But that's just it! It doesn't seem like she has a lot to deal with! I mean she seems happy most of the time. When she's with Dawn, or Anya, or even me most of the time, until anything happens." Willow's eyes filled with tears. "I'm starting to wonder…what if she doesn't want me anymore? What if she just doesn't know how to tell me, she's worried I'll go all veiny, so she's avoiding it, but she doesn't ever want to be with me again?"

-

"Hey, Buffy, Dawn's not here, I think she went running." Tara said, opening the door to the room she shared with the young slayer.

Buffy walked into the room. "Actually, I'm here to see you." She looked around. "Wow, you can really tell which side is Dawn's huh?"

Tara grinned. "How someone whose entire possessions were blown up two months ago has this much stuff I'll never know."

Buffy sat down on her sister's unmade bed.

"What's up?" Tara asked, sitting down on her own bed.

"It's about Willow."

Tara was quiet for a moment. "What about her?"

"She's not doing so well." Buffy tried to explain, but Tara took it the wrong way.

"Oh no, she didn't…did she do something?" she asked in fear.

"What? Oh god no, of course not! Tara, she's not like that anymore. Do you really still think she is?"

Tara looked down. "Not really, but it's so hard to forget that she was."

"Well, this time, her problem is you."

Tara looked up again. "M-me?"

Buffy nodded. "You're driving her crazy. She says you seem fine and friendly, even flirting sometimes, but if she flirts back you freak out."

Tara opened her mouth to defend herself, but no words came out. "I guess I kinda have." She finally said.

"Look, I understand you need time, and Willow does too. But you just need to know that this is rough on her too. Really rough."

Tara didn't say anything.

"Look, she spent a year thinking the love of her life was dead and gone forever. Then two months ago it was like all her prayers were answered, and you were back. But having you back…and having to be around you all the time while you decide if you can be with her again after everything…in some ways that's even harder on her."

Tara's eyes were watering, but she blinked away the tears.

"I'm not saying this to hurt you, or to make you feel like you've done anything wrong. Hell, I know what it's like, okay? When I came back, all I could think about was how hard it was on me being back. I forgot all about how hard it was on everyone else."

Tara nodded.

"She's afraid you don't love her anymore, that you aren't ever going to want to be with her again." Buffy confessed. "Is that true?" she asked gently.

"Of course not! How could you think that?"

"Look, I haven't even been here the past few weeks. All I know is that Willow thinks that it might be true."

"It's n-not. Oh it is so not true."

"Then you might want to make sure she knows it." Buffy stood up. "I know it isn't really my business, but you two both mean so much to me that I can't stand it when you are hurting, okay? Call it slayer impulse, to try to fix things." She tried to joke.

Tara smiled. "Thanks Buffy. Really."

The slayer hugged her. "Anytime."

-

Willow sat at her desk, updating the slayer database. They now had over 400 entries. She could hardly imagine what the school was going to be like. A knock at the door didn't bother her, it was probably just Dawn or something.

"Come in." she called, not bothering to turn around.

The door opened but her visitor didn't speak, so she turned to look.

"Tara, hey."

The blonde had a serious look on her face, so Willow stood up and went over to her.

"Is everything okay?"

"Willow. I wanted to…apologize for the way I've been treating you lately."

"What? Oh god, Buffy…"

"Yes, she talked to me. And you're right. I have been acting like this is all about me, when it's about both of us." She paused. "I won't lie to you, I don't know if I'll ever stop worrying about you and magic. But I can't spend my life waiting around to see if you make a mistake."

Willow looked at her with hope in her eyes.

"I still think we should go slowly, but…would you go on a date with me?"

The hope turned into insane happiness as her face split into a grin.

"Of course I will! Do you really need to ask?"

Tara grinned back. "Well, I was hoping not, but it's part of the whole starting over, going slow thing."

-

"Hey Willow."

Willow turned around with a panicked look in her eyes. Buffy took in the room. Every available space was covered with discarded clothes.

"Uh, what's going on?"

"I can't find anything to wear!"

"Oh, Will, I don't think it really matters, she loves you already, you know that."

"But it's our first real date, everything has to be perfect or maybe she'll change her mind!"

"Hey, breathe, okay? I'll help you, let's see, how about this shirt…"

-

Buffy managed to calm the frantic witch down and get her dressed in plenty of time to leave for the movie.

They had borrowed Giles' car, and Tara drove to the large AMC multiplex in the nearest town.

"What time does the movie start?" Willow asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"Not until 8:30, but they have an ice cream cart here and I thought we could get some first." Tara explained, since it wasn't quite 8.

Willow grinned. "You know me, always up for ice cream." She shyly took Tara's hand as they walked up to the building.

"Hey this is huge! When'd you come here before?"

"Oh, Dawn wanted to see X2 so we came here to see it. She thinks the guy who plays Wolverine is hot. I don't get it, but whatever."

"Is that why she wanted to see it?" Willow asked.

Tara smiled. "Well, I think it appeals to her as someone with superpowers, but I think that was a big part of it."

"That's so cute."

Tara stifled a giggle.

"What?"

"Well we're doing the same thing." She pointed out.

"What thing?"

"You mean you wanted to see Tomb Raider because of the plot?" she teased.

Willow blushed. "Uh, it's…the action and the special effects are…and I heard this one is about something mystical…okay fine yeah so I think Angelina Jolie is hot."

"You're so cute when you're flustered." Tara placed a quick kiss on Willow's cheek, making it burn even more.

"Anyway, of course you think she's hot, I mean you are still a breast gal, right?"

Willow's eyes flicked down to Tara's chest before answering. "Oh yeah."

Tara grinned, glad she'd decided to go with the somewhat uncharacteristic tight top.

-

The school was quiet when the couple returned. Tara locked the car and took Willow's hand for the short walk back to the dorm building.

"I had a really good time tonight." She said as they reached their floor. They came to a stop outside their doors.

"Me too! I'm glad you had a good time, with me I mean, and I hope you want to do it again sometime soon, I mean the date part not the seeing Tomb Raider again cuz that would be silly, oh unless you-" she was cut off by a finger on her lips.

"Willow."

"Mmph?"

"You're babbling." Tara said softly and with a smile as she removed her finger but leaned in and replaced it with her lips.

Willow closed her eyes instinctively and just melted into the kiss.

It lasted longer than Tara had intended, but she finally pulled away.

"Goodnight Willow." She whispered into the redhead's ear before slipping into her room.

Willow walked dazed into her own room with a wide grin on her face.

Buffy was lying on her bed reading. She smiled when she saw the look on her best friend's face. "I guess that means I don't have to ask how it went, huh?"

-

Willow pulled a dish of lasagna out of the oven. Things had been going well with Tara since their movie date two weeks ago, and she was making a romantic dinner for the two of them.

"Mmm, smells good Will."

The redhead jumped slightly at the unexpected voice and almost dropped the heavy pan. "Buffy!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, I just came up to see if you needed any help."

"Um…I think I'm good. Lasagna's done, salad and wine are in the fridge, table's set…"

"What time is Tara supposed to be here?"

"7." Willow looked at her watch. "Which is in fifteen minutes! I have to get dressed!"

Buffy followed her friend into the bedroom.

"Wow, this place really looks nice." Just the day before, Willow had moved her things into the apartment she'd be living in for the school year. It was on the floor above the one they'd been living on. She'd already decorated it though, and had a few pictures hanging on the wall. One was of her and Tara, taken sometime early in their relationship. Willow was standing behind her girlfriend, with her arms around her and her head on her shoulder. Tara had a smile on her face and her eyes were slightly closed as she leaned her head on Willow's. Buffy smiled just looking at it. Those had been good times.

Willow was changing into an outfit she'd had laid out on the bed. She zipped up the knee-length skirt in the back as Buffy continued to look at the pictures.

"Where did you get all of these?"

"The pictures? When I got the digital I scanned all my old ones into the computer. And when I was in England, I missed having them around, so when I got back I put up a webpage so that I could see them from anywhere with an internet." She explained, slipping a dark green shirt over her head. "Pretty lucky, huh?"

"Yeah..I thought we lost everything like that." Buffy was now looking at a picture of Willow, Xander, and herself from high school.

"God, I never told you I had all of them? Remind me tomorrow, I'll show you."

Buffy nodded absently.

"Hey Buff want to do me a favor?"

"Oh, yeah sure."

"Light the candles for me?" she gestured at a group on the chest. "There's some more out in the main room and on the table." She was slipping on a pair of dangling earrings.

"Ooh, candles in the bedroom? I didn't know you guys were at that point yet." Buffy said, picking up the matchbox and lighting them.

Willow blushed. "Well uh we aren't really, I mean we haven't yet…"

"But tonight might be the night?" Buffy waggled her eyebrows.

"Never hurts to be prepared. Plus, they smell yummy."

Buffy sniffed. "Yeah they do."

She walked out to light the rest of the candles, and she had just finished when Willow came out of the bedroom.

"What do you think?" she turned around for Buffy's approval.

"I think that Tara's jaw is gonna drop."

Willow smiled shyly.

"Hey, I better get going before she gets here, but have a great time."

Willow checked the place over one more time and brought the food out to the table. She moved over to the computer in the corner and pulled up iTunes. She'd made a special playlist for tonight, full of songs she knew Tara liked and songs that had meaning for the two of them. Just as she was looking it over again, she heard a knock on the door. Now or never, she thought as she clicked play.

The strands of Shania Twain's "From this Moment On" started softly as she opened the door.

"Hey." Tara said almost shyly. "I-I brought flowers." She held out a small pot of daisies, which Willow took as she moved slightly aside to let her girlfriend in.

"Great, I'll put it on the table." Willow smiled as she remembered how Tara liked giving living flowers, since she said they'd last much longer.

Tara's eyes widened when she saw the table.

"Did you make that?"

"Yep!" Willow said proudly.

"Wow, it smells wonderful."

-

An hour later, they were both full, and slightly tipsy. The bottle of wine was half-empty.

Willow stood up. "I'm going to stick this in the fridge. Do you want any more wine?"

Tara shook her head. "I think I've had plenty." She picked up the wine bottle and followed Willow into the kitchen to put it in the fridge too.

Food away, Tara returned to clean up the table, but Willow stopped her by taking her hand.

"Dance with me?"

"The dishes…"

"Can wait." She said softly, moving closer.

They were still wrapped up in each other when "One More Day With You" by Diamond Rio started playing.

Last night I had a crazy dream

A wish was granted just for me,

It could be for anything

I didn't ask for money

Or a mansion in Malibu

I simply wished, for one more day with you.

Willow felt her eyes tearing up. She'd put this song on the playlist without thinking about it. Tara felt a slight change in her girlfriend and pulled back to look at her.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"You used to love this song." Willow said quietly, still swaying in time to the music.

Tara nodded. "I still do. Remember when we first started dating and you couldn't stand my country music?"

Willow chuckled. "You won me over with sneaky songs like that one that I didn't know were country until you told me."

Tara giggled too, but then grew serious. "Why were you crying?"

"Think about the lyrics. The first time I heard that after you…were gone, I almost couldn't handle it. I couldn't listen to it for months. It was just too close to what I was living. But now…the dream came true." It was the first time they'd talked about Tara's death since they'd started dating again.

Tara looked deep into her eyes. "Not exactly."

Willow didn't speak, but Tara could tell she was confused. She kissed her gently.   
"You have me for a lot longer than one day." She explained.

Willow smiled and closed her eyes as the song ended but her dance did not.

They danced for a few songs more in silence. Then Tara leaned in and kissed her girlfriend. The kiss soon turned into an extended make-out session, their dancing becoming more sporadic.

Willow slipped her hands under Tara's shirt to feel the warm skin of her back. She deepened the kiss, feeling her breath getting ragged. The dancing forgotten, she moved down to Tara's neck, caressing the skin there with her tongue and sucking gently on the soft skin. She felt Tara suck in a sharp breath, and her hands worked their way upward on their own. Suddenly Tara pulled back slightly.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, you're not ready, I'm sorry…" she started apologizing.

Tara looked at the floor.

"It's not that exactly…I mean I want to, I do, it's just…"

"You're not sure if you want to be with me, it's okay, I understand…"

Tara looked up. "No, you don't! I want to be with you, I just don't know if you're going to want to be with me anymore." She looked down again.

Willow was puzzled. "What? Why ever not?"

"B-because I'm not sexy. I don't have a tongue ring, and I'm kind of chubby, and-"

"A tongue ring? Oh god is this about Kennedy?"

Tara leaned up against the wall. "I saw her, Willow. She's way sexier than me. I mean, she's a slayer now. And Dawn said she had a tongue ring…Now that you've had s-sex with her, maybe you won't think it's so great with me anymore."

Willow touched her chin to make her look up. "Hey. No way. Don't think like that. First of all, Dawn is in big trouble for any tongue ring comments. Anyway, there's no comparison. Kennedy was nice, but I wasn't in love with her. I'm in love with you. Truly, madly, deeply in love with you." Tara smiled in spite of her worries. "And last, you are the most beautiful woman I've ever met."

"You're just saying that." Tara disagreed.

"Nope." Willow countered. "It's completely true." She leaned in and kissed Tara passionately. When they separated, both were breathing quickly. Willow picked up Tara's left hand and placed it on her chest. "Can't you feel that?"

Tara raised her eyebrows. "Your breast?"

"My heart, silly. It's beating for you. Look what you do to me."

Tara smiled crookedly. "Do you think I'm being silly?"

"Thinking that I wouldn't want to have sex with you? Mmm, just a little bit. But you're allowed to be silly."

Tara smile grew wider as she started slowly moving her hand around, feeling Willow's heartbeat quicken as she did so. Willow closed her eyes and moved closer.

"Does that mean you're done being silly?" she asked hoarsely.

Tara pulled her into a kiss. "What do you think?" she asked.

"I think that I need to show you the rest of the apartment."

"Mmm, starting with the bedroom?"

"Absolutely."

-

End

Okay, that's it for now. I'm working on a sequel about life at the slayer school. I need a good name for the school, and also for the dorms. Ideas? Review and let me know! Best suggestions make it into the story!


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